Pathetic state of Zoo Park-Aramghar underpass turning deadly for commuters

 Rangareddy: After four long years of public suffering, the much-awaited 4-km-long Zoo Park-Aramghar Bridge, initiated in 2021, has finally taken a complete shape and is all set to be thrown open for the public soon.

However, hard times continue to haunt a significant chunk of commuters passing below the bridge on this busy stretch as the pathetic road condition below the fully furnished bridge is yet to get a face lift.

While the GHMC officials, all these years, were found busy shaping the bridge, the commuters were left to the tender mercy of the dust-layered, pothole-ridden, and concrete-filled road below the bridge.

With this, taking a ride from this busy stretch, also known as National Highway-44, is becoming a nightmare for the commuters as they had to pass on through a dust-layered road filled with potholes and sharp concrete stones that can be seen scattered all the way from Zoo Park to the Aramghar underpass.

“Road users on the busy Zoo Park to Aramghar road were left with no option but to take a bumpy ride below the bridge. They are bearing the brunt of officials’ apathy towards the pathetic condition of the road below the bridge,” blames Mahender, a road user based at Rajendranagar.

The bridge works, he further said, were taken up four years back in the name of building road infrastructure under the Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP) to address the traffic issue on this busy stretch sans adhering to any time frame. Officials’ blind eye towards the suffering of the road users only added to the woes of the motorists all these years.

Syed Shoukat Ali, a senior citizen, said, “The commuters were left to bear the sufferings on this busy highway while the GHMC was found washing off their hands, citing that the tax payers money was at work without reasoning the inordinate delay in executing the work and the poignant state of the stretch since the last four years.”

Some commuters even recalled the harrowing experience they lived through while passing through this road during the construction of the bridge.

“While the commuters were forced to move through the bumpy road, keeping their eyes completely stuck to the road, they were caught unaware of the fumes flying down the bridge as the labourers were found busy in executing welding works atop the bridge. Neither the GHMC nor the staff from the executing agency were found taking preventive measures on the ground to safeguard the commuters from any harm,” said Syed Munawwar, a resident of the Zoo Park area.

“Already, multiple accidents were reported on this busy stretch during the last four years that claimed many lives due to the precarious execution of works and maintenance here on this particular road. Nevertheless, the officials want us to believe that they are concerned for our safety while executing the development works,” he added.

“The GHMC authorities should avoid hoodwinking us in the name of building the bridge to address the traffic issue. They must take the poignant state of the road below the bridge into consideration immediately and roll out measures to make this stretch pliable for all road users,” K Narsing, another road user.